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Southampton Web Design Hub Mon, 17 Dec 2018 12:57:44 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9A Beginners Guide to Web Hostinghttps://design-hut.co.uk/a-beginners-guide-to-web-hosting/
https://design-hut.co.uk/a-beginners-guide-to-web-hosting/#respondMon, 17 Dec 2018 12:57:44 +0000https://design-hut.co.uk/?p=1630For a total beginner looking to launch a website, knowing where to begin can be very confusing. People new to the process of launching a website usually find the most challenging part to be web hosting; deciding on a package, understanding the basic terminology, knowing what a VPS is, making a choice to go with shared hosting or not, or whether or not to get a dedicated server and much more. All these can make web hosting appear daunting, hence the need for a guide like this.

Web hosting services involve paying a web hosting company for the use of their servers to publish a website; you will usually be charged a monthly fee for the services and support provided. A web server is responsible for the existence of all the files available on a website, a web server can be likened to a computer in that it is always on and connected to the internet, and it stores websites and hosts them, hence the name web hosting.

It is possible to connect your computer to the internet and have it host webpages, but this option is not practical as a home-based server is not powerful enough to serve a wide range of users. You could also build your own servers and use them to store your website but this will be expensive and inefficient, except in the case of a big business. These reasons are why web hosting companies are required, they have and maintain large numbers of servers powerful enough to store websites for businesses and individuals and most often provide a wide range of packages for different types and sizes of businesses.

There are different types of hosting, and which one you choose is determined by what you require, so it is important to have at least a basic understanding of the various types of hosting services available:

Shared Hosting

In this situation, your website is hosted on a server the same as other sites, and you have access to the resources of the host like RAM and CPU together with other website owners whose numbers can range from hundreds to several thousands. One benefit of this method is that the cost is particularly low, but this diminishes the level of performance delivered. Most providers of shared hosting will propose you host several websites with the same package, with the benefit of them not charging extra if there is a sudden increase the number of visitors to your website.

Shared hosting is considered beginner-level hosting as it requires minimal technical knowledge.

WordPress Hosting

As the name suggests, this form of hosting is designed and enhanced for the WordPress content management system. This type of hosting is the best way to get started if WordPress is how you choose to build your website. The benefit of WordPress hosting is that it costs nothing, but it restricts access to a number of features like plugins which are one of the best attributes of WordPress. Hosting on WordPress also means ads may randomly appear on your site.

This method divides a single server into several virtual servers where each customer’s website is hosted on its own dedicated server. This type of hosting is best for users that require more control at the server level but would not like to spend so much on a dedicated server; this also means the cost is lower because the server is being shared. Also, since each VPS has guaranteed resources, it provides more power than standard share hosting. The limited ability of the server to handle an increase in traffic and the chance of the performance of your site being affected by the activities of the different sites on the server has proven to be a big disadvantage of this method.

Dedicated Server

This method offers complete control over the server hosting your website, this means you are entirely and exclusively renting that server with your website being the only one hosted on it. This option is the most expensive and most powerful and is best suited for websites with high traffic or sites that require a lot of resources.

A dedicated server makes performance faster, as all the resources of the server are devoted to just one website, this also makes it very secure. A dedicated server is an option that comes at an incredibly high cost and this is its major disadvantage.

Business Hosting

This type of hosting provides more power than standard shared hosting but without the complication of a dedicated server. Business hosting provides the power and resources of your own private server without requiring the services of an experienced administrator. This method is best for creating a large complex website without getting bogged down by the tech knowledge required to run a dedicated server.

Choosing the Right Hosting Package

After learning about the several hosting options and how they work, there are still other factors to be considered before making your choice and they include:

Storage Space and Bandwidth

Before selecting an option, you should make sure you know the storage capabilities each has to offer, make sure your provider delivers enough storage space that allows you to create the site you want and enough bandwidth to accommodate any increase in traffic.

Resource Usage

How many resources your site will require will also determine which option you choose. Running an ecommerce website on a shared server will lead to disaster, while running a small website on a dedicated server will cost a lot of money.

Technical Support

It is important to select a server provider that is available 24/7 for support and answers to any queries.

Server Reliability and Uptime Guarantee

Having a web host provider who is always available is very important, since websites are visited by people from various time zones, so a host who is reliable both in terms of server and network connection is required. A high-class web host should provide an uptime guarantee of 99.95%, this is considered the industry standard, while a web host providing 99.99% is considered premium, anything less than 99% is unacceptable.

Essential Features and Extras

The web server provider you choose should provide essential features like file management and site stats but should also go a step further and provide features like one click installer, DNS management, ftp/sftp, as well as file manager that allows you to edit .htaccess from there. Some companies offer free domain names for a year as a bonus to encourage patronage.

Using web hosting services do not require you to be a tech genius but basic technical skills and the willingness to learn will prove useful. A good hosting option will have a control panel that allows you to install web applications. Employing a web designer to create and upload your website is an option if you are not interested in the technical aspect of website development.

Conclusively, the importance of knowing something about web hosting cannot be overemphasized if you are planning on launching a website, you should know what you need and use that to determine which method works for you and will give you great value for your money. There are experts willing to take the stress away if that is what you would prefer.

You know all the major multibillion dollar or, in a few cases, trillion dollar corporations. Don’t you? You know about Apple, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, HP, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Vodafone, BA, BT, and others. You know their colours and their logos, and have their websites bookmarked on your phone and web browsers, you know the sound of their jingles and the big models they are paying to sell their identities all over the world. Why do you think these big corporations and their products are easy to identity, even in crowded market settings?

Your business needs maximum visibility.

While it is true that all of them make world class products, it is also true that you may not have used any of these products yourself nor known anyone who has. I don’t have any personal relationship with anyone who drives a Range Rover neither do I drive one myself. I heard about them and bought into the story. Rolls Royce Limited is known for producing high end cars; Apple makes superior phones, run by a super-efficient operating system. You probably already believed that Apple products are superior before you walked through the door of an Apple retail store. That’s the power of branding at play.

The Magic Before the Reality

You need to understand the concept of branding and why your business needs it like your body needs oxygen. Branding is any feature—name, term, design, byline or symbol—that marks out your products or services from those of your rivals. Your brand tells prospective customers who you are, what you represent, who you serve and how you serve them. People want to know what to expect when they buy your products or contract your services, they want to know your unique selling proposition and why they should choose you and not your competition. Remember, it goes beyond pricing, potential customers want to know just about everything they can about your products and services before even knowing your business address or meeting your team. Price, business address and other details only come in when they realise you have what it takes to deserve their commitment.

It is possible that in the past, people may only have cared about your products and no more. These days, customers want more. They want to know how you source your raw materials, to see if it aligns with their values; they want to know your business mission, goals and customer-service approach, and how they would be treated during the pre- and post-transaction periods. The Internet has created millions of empowered customers who use all the internet tools to rate your products and services.

This reality holds true for all businesses—it does not matter which it is and who you serve. Whether you are into publishing, online retail, appliance manufacturing, business consulting, furniture making or education and aviation services, people want to know you, they want to know how associating with you can benefit them and want to be certain they are not violating their ethics by patronizing you. It is your duty to present yourself in the right manner to your customers. Do not blame them for asking too much or wanting to know more than you think they should know. There are plenty of public advocacy campaigns in diverse parts of the world today. Some are interested in preserving the environment, they would prefer to deal with companies that have adopted environmentally friendly policies, others care about social justice; they want to be certain the business they spend their money on is not involved in slavery or forced labour. Others care about children and education. It would be comforting for them when they patronise businesses that support education. You sure know about health and the endless campaign for healthy living. These are some of the seemingly non-business concerns you have to deal with to be competitive today.

Again do not whine about the preferences of your customers. Do not expect them to care only about your superior products, they care for more and it is your duty to tell them you care for more than profit or money. Modern business is about relationships. Every entrepreneur or business manager must be very keen on how his business operations affect the community.

When you align your business with what your customers care about, your next line of duty is to communicate this in as subtle way as possible. They don’t want you turning it into another profit-seeking venture. Such communication of value should reflect on your brand, how your products and services are sold and its support for the environment.

What should I do?

You may ask: How do I present a good image of my business to prospective customers? We have identified business branding as a very important success factor for the big multinationals. If branding is vital to the success of Fortune 500 companies, then you will no doubt agree with me that it is even more important for a growing business. Business branding involves everything you present to the outside world—your logo, business cards, packaging materials, business colours, website and just about everything you want your business to be associated with.

Here’s why you have to take a second look at your current branding materials and consider going for a makeover.

Visibility

Branding gives you the advantage of distinct visibility. People identify with your brand without asking questions and know instantly what you represent. What message does your logo convey? Efficiency? Speed? Top class customer service? How about your website? Is it easily accessible? What information do customers find in there? All of these are very important and if done right, increases your Returns on Investment significantly.

Credibility

As an expert in your niche, you know that when people want to spend their hard-earned income, they like to be certain that the person they are handing the money to does what he said he can do, better than anyone else. If you get your branding right, you put your existing and prospective customers at ease.

Fee

You will be placing yourself in a vantage position if you present your business as being professionally run, and of course, demonstrate subtly, what you are capable of. Good branding gives you the leverage to charge the right fees and win the respect of clients. Don’t sell yourself short.

Customer Loyalty

Your brand makes it easy to bond with your customers. So many of us have been using mobile phones made by a particular company for as long as we can remember. My dad has never driven any other car except one manufactured by a particular car maker since the late 1970s. He does not care that the competition has better options at more affordable prices. Call it extreme loyalty but that’s the power of branding.

Consistency

You want values around which your business operations and goals revolve. In branding your business, you articulate your goals and your vision. When you do this, it becomes easier for your employees, suppliers and customers to sail with it. You are most likely to be irregular in just about every aspect of your business operations, from customer service to dispute resolution without properly articulating these values. You can do without the drama, just get it right from day one.

Time to act

There is no question that good branding will benefit your business in more ways than you can imagine. Think about the pride in being the owner of a popular brand, the ease of referral, the retention of a large pool of customers and ease of identification by media agencies. Please, delay no further, give your business a name and a face immediately. Talk to experts here if you need practical assistance and step by step guide on how to go about getting that identity that will propel your growing enterprise forward.

Good luck.

]]>https://design-hut.co.uk/how-your-business-benefits-from-intelligent-branding/feed/08 Principles to Optimise your Website Design for Mobile in 2018https://design-hut.co.uk/8-principles-to-optimise-your-website-design-for-mobile-in-2018/
https://design-hut.co.uk/8-principles-to-optimise-your-website-design-for-mobile-in-2018/#respondSat, 20 Oct 2018 08:51:58 +0000https://design-hut.co.uk/?p=1620The future of search is mobile. Back in 2016, Google announced a move to mobile-first index. A soft rollout was expected this year, which makes it crucial for companies and online businesses to get the mobile experience right for both the end user and Google.

Your company cannot afford to ignore mobile customers. 80% of internet users have a smartphone and 80% of the top websites ranked on Alexa are optimised for mobile. The love for mobile makes it easy for prospects and customers alike to access your site.

Over 50% of all web traffic originates from mobile. If you’ve not optimised your website, you’re going to lose Google rankings, traffic and a chance to convert more customers.

Here are 8 tips to help you create a mobile-friendly website in 2018.

Create simplistic menus

The major difference between mobile screens and desktop screens is that a mobile screen is significantly smaller. If you currently have an extensive menu that flows nicely on a desktop screen, the experience could be different on mobile.

Visitors don’t want to zoom in or scroll out to see all the navigation choices. It has to fit on the screen. Simplify your menu with fewer options that make it easier for users to navigate.

Plan your site layout

Mobile sites load more slowly than desktop sites. It is crucial to site speed that you keep the web pages to a minimum. Remember that users don’t have the patience to click through several pages when looking for an item. A streamlined layout is the only way to go. This example from Domino’s Pizza should help.

Manage your content for mobile

The content you deliver to mobile users is crucial to your ranking. Conduct a thorough audit of your mobile and desktop site to identify gaps. A good tool to use is Screaming Frog Crawler. The software crawls your website and analyses the results.

It goes without saying that you should not use flash on mobile. Most websites have killed it entirely, but you can still find some sites that insist on it. Alternatives include Java or HTML5 that allow you to add interactive elements for more engagement.

Large and legible print

Google penalises you if your text is difficult to read. Legibility is one of the metrics for mobile-friendliness. Good mobile design entices the reader with easily legible fonts that do not require zooming. Here are a few recommendations from Google.

The choices for font sizes are infinite, plus there is the battle of whether to use san serif or serif. Generally, avoid overly stylized fonts. A good combination in typeface and sizes creates the visual hierarchy for a webpage and guides the visitor. According to UserTesting, the choice of fonts should depend on the experience you want to create and the purpose of the website.

Aim for functionality

Functionality is what you offer your website visitors to get things done quickly and efficiently. If you’re running an e-commerce store, things like product search, stores near me, currency converters and product reviews help them perform the intended function much faster.

This example of Purina, a pet food provider, is ideal. On the home page, you can see the search box that makes it easy to find what you need. Results are based on food type, price and brand. The columns, tools, buttons and design elements make it easy to find the right pet food and complete your order in a breeze.

Use short forms

Using long forms for mobile won’t convert. Change the design to shorter forms that fit a smartphone/tablet screen.

You don’t need a person’s phone number or home address when asking them to fill out an email subscription form. Their first name and email address should suffice. The same applies to a form for buying a conversion. Only ask for shipping and billing information.

Long checkout forms are one of the major reasons for shopping cart abandonment. Change your mobile website forms if you want to reduce this issue.

Clearly displayed CTAs

CTAs are essential to conversions. The call-to-action on your mobile site should be obvious. One CTA per page will do or else you’ll overwhelm them. What is the goal for your landing pages? Do you want the user to download a white paper? Fill out a form? Make a purchase? Create a CTA button that focuses on that primary goal. The user should be able to identify your CTA in less than 3 seconds.

Design for touch

Mobile users are using their fingers instead of a mouse or keyboard. Design should be easy for fingers of all sizes. Inaccurate taps are frustrating and should be factored into the design. Touch inputs or gestures should be large enough for all users.

Conclusion

Optimising your website for mobile gives you a measurable edge over your competitors and increases conversion across desktop and mobile devices. It also ensures faster loading times, increases SERP rankings and ensures a solid user experience on your website.

]]>https://design-hut.co.uk/8-principles-to-optimise-your-website-design-for-mobile-in-2018/feed/0These Persuasive Design Tricks Will Increase Website Conversionhttps://design-hut.co.uk/these-persuasive-design-tricks-will-increase-website-conversion/
https://design-hut.co.uk/these-persuasive-design-tricks-will-increase-website-conversion/#respondThu, 18 Oct 2018 08:56:24 +0000https://design-hut.co.uk/?p=1619You can create the most spectacular website in the world, but it fails if it doesn’t convert. The first job of a web designer is to solve problems and encourage users to follow a client’s call to action. It’s easier to persuade someone when you have words in your arsenal, but what about non-verbal elements that could be just as effective?

In a study, an image of a fly was installed in urinals across various airports to reduce spillage rates. The results showed that the presence of the fly incentivised men to aim properly. Spillage rates dropped 80%, a clear example of persuasion in action, without words.

Did you know that the human brain processes visuals 50x faster than text? The right visuals can work wonders for your e-commerce site. We’ve put together a list of tips to help you incorporate persuasive design elements into your site.

Get to know your target audience

To persuade your audience to take a specific action, you need to know how the rational part of their brain works. What guides their emotional and subconscious decision-making process? The best way to get a good answer is to speak to them through split tests, usability tests and user surveys. Once you understand your audience, you’ll know how your product fits in with their lives.

Clarity of the offering

The first thing the brain does when it sees something it doesn’t understand is to ask questions. What is this? How can I use it? Will it hurt me? People go to websites they are interested in. The most important factor of good web design is making it easy for users to find that thing that interests them.

When they land on your website, they should understand what your site is about, be able to find the information they are looking for, understand the benefits of the service/product and how to use it. Your Unique Value Proposition should tell them why they should buy from you and ignore the competition.

All the pages on your website, such as product pages, the homepage and the about me page should be clear about who you are and what you are offering.

The message in this image is clear. When you get a card reader, you can immediately start accepting credit cards. The answer to the “Why” is that the card reader is free, and they only take 2.75% per swipe.

A website that is visually appealing

Only 6% of web users notice the content at first glance. The other 96% notice the visual design. The impression you leave on a user could impact the experience they have on your website. Make your website simple to navigate.

For example, this image from Simple Banking’s website is perfect. The homepage uses a lot of whitespace, it’s clear and easy to use and the content matches their mission statement. With the whitespace, you’ll pay more attention to important elements on the page. They list six solid reasons to enter your email and get an invite.

Strong visual hierarchy

This is an essential principle behind effective web design. When looking at the circle below, you already know that the colour blue is the most important circle because it is the biggest.

Make the most important element or message the biggest and most visible. Visual hierarchy is the practice of making the core elements the standout features on the page.

For e-commerce websites, the bestselling items should be the most visible, to draw attention. Don’t bury your offer in tiny letters. It should be written in bold at the top of the screen where every visitor can see it.

Apart from making the elements larger, you can also use colour to highlight your key message. Whitespace makes the target element more noticeable. Any of the three options works.

Use common language

You’ll need a combination of images and text to build a persuasive website. When written by a good conversion copywriter, the text will increase sales on your website. Use short phrases and words. Bullet points highlight your primary sales points and make it easy to scan the information. Avoid large blocks of text that no one will read.

It can be a challenge finding simple words that communicate your offer if you’re in an industry such as technology. Write text that a teenager would understand. Avoid industry jargon as much as possible.

Anchor visitors with reference clues

The human mind works in complex ways. When presented with high figures, your mind shudders at the thought of paying an expensive price. When a lower figure is introduced, even though, technically, it is still a high price, the brain finds it easier to accept this new deal.

This is a good example from the introduction of the iPad by Steve Jobs.

People were willing to pay $499 because it was inexpensive when compared to the initial price of $999. You can apply the same principle in web design by placing visual reference cues on your website that compares one trigger with a subsequent one.

Notice the different prices. The donation is smaller (€1.50 against €32) when compared to what you would pay for the handbag.

CTA copy design and placement

The best CTAs are short, sweet and describe what happens when the user clicks the button. A good technique is to break the copy into a primary headline and a sub-headline that supports the main headline. This is more effective than writing a long description that requires a larger CTA button.

Conclusion

The goal of every business is to increase conversion and get more revenue. Incorporating persuasive design and complementing it with great text increases engagement and conversion. Design should not be an afterthought for your business, but a well-thought-out strategy with your target audience in mind.

Incorporating video with your online marketing strategy has become a necessary tool for higher search engine ranking. Video is a fantastic way to engage your audience and pique interest in your website outside of conventional blog posts and articles. Visuals are always easier to understand, more appealing to watch and an avenue for webmasters to showcase a unique brand of creativity when generating awareness for a product on their site.

The use of videos have dramatically increased over the years and businesses are looking for new ways to use it for it’s SEO rich value. According to Cisco, video makes up 64% of all internet traffic and is forecasted to increase 80% of all online traffic by 2019.

3 ways videos can improve your search rankings

Make the video content worthwhile and interactive

The content you’re creating must be gripping and relevant for your target audience. The video shouldn’t be a last minute decision but the words must convince the audience on the benefits of watching the video to fully understand your message. One surefire way to make your video interactive is to add engaging content to the caption, annotation or video. Furthermore, you could break down the video into shorter segments to place the choice on what to watch with the audience. A two-minute video is a reasonable length for any video.

Keyword

Search engines need all the information you can provide to help them identify which search results are best for your content. Label your video with keyword rich words just as you would label graphics and pictures. According to Google, the important data are the thumbnail, title and description. The title must be short and direct; description should offer information using keywords to boost ranking and the metadata must be well thought out because it contains the video length, title, file name and description.

Viral and share-worthy content

It’s not enough for your video to be engaging, your audience has to like it enough to share it on social media or invite their friends and family to view your content. Shareable content has specific qualities such as

Creative and well thought out

Unique

Top quality that is memorable and improves your site authority.

In conclusion, videos have moved beyond just an attention-grabbing attachment people use as an afterthought; it is an essential feature for sites looking to boost conversion rates, SEO and traffic.

Explainer videos short online marketing videos used to engage potential customers. It focuses on explaining a complex product or idea in a simple, easy to understand and fun way that quickly attracts the viewer’s attention. They have become so popular and are said to boast as much as a 80% conversion rate for some websites.

Today, I will be showing you 5 amazing software you can use to make explainer videos for your product or website.

Pow Toon

Pow Toon is used for making cool animated explainer videos online. One good thing about this software is that it is quite easy to use, as simple as making a PowerPoint. Pow Toon does not require you to have any animation experience; anyone with basic computer skills can use it. Used by many large corporations for years, Pow Toon is free and even has a tutorial section to walk you through your first creation.

GoAnimate

GoAnimate is another online video animation software that you can use to quickly create your explainer videos. Starting at $39 per month, this inexpensive tool features drag and drop and you can create as many animations as you want with the various character positions it comes with.

Camtasia

If you are trying to create a straightforward, no frills tutorial video without any form of animation, probably explaining how to use a product or website, Then Camtasia is for you. This software is screenshot recording software which captures exactly what you are doing on a computer. Your customers and viewers get to see exactly how you use your product or website without the distractions of comic characters or funny effects.

MakeWebVideo

Another great online too for create explainer videos is MakeWebVideo. This affordable application requires no technical skill, all you need to do is select the template of your choice and customize it with your text, pictures and audio. Within minutes, you have a complete video ready to download in MP4 or WEBM formats or you can as easily host it on their website and use the embed code to display it where you want.

RawShorts

This easy to use platform gives you everything you need to make an explainer video or animation. The simple drag and drop interface comes with professionally designed templates. Although they have a premium service, you can still get great videos using their free offer. Just browse for the template that suite your needs, upload your own media like images and sound, customize the text and share with friends.

Using explainer videos for your products and services gives you tons of benefits. It is a great way to increase your conversion rate and get your users to better understand your products. Use any of the tools above to create some killer videos and see how it goes.

Considering the immense benefits of keeping your website secure, many website owners are ditching HTTP for the safer HTTPS and it’s great that you are thinking of doing the same too. However, you have to be careful to not lose all your web traffic as you move and in this article, you’ll see what you must avoid and what you must do.

The Do’s

Make sure you 301 redirect all HTTP URL versions to the new HTTPS URLs without exception.

Double check and be sure all your internal links point to the new HTTP URLs.

Get your social media profiles updated with your new secure domain URL.

Get your Google Analytics profile updated.

Get your canonical tags updated and make sure they point to HTTPS URL versions.

Map out all your new HTTPS URLs on a page-to-page level with the aim of achieving an exact duplicate URL structure.

Make sure every single rel=canonical tag in your HTML points to the HTTPS version and not the old HTTP one. Changing them to the new HTTPS URLs helps Googlebot determine which version of a page to rank and which to drop.

Make sure all new social shares and external links point to the new secure version of your URLs. This is to ensure there is no confusion about which version of your site should be ranking. Google may get confused if you continue to get links to the HTTP site and you will lose out on the potential benefits of those links.

Be sure to watch as your Webmaster Tools account post goes live, and to be certain you are aware if an issue pops up with your new secure website, you must keep monitoring it.

The don’ts:

Don’t use 302 redirects.

Don’t have the HTTP and HTTPS versions of your site live at the same time as it can result in link dilution even if you have canonical tags in place. Also, users will be able to see both versions of your site in SERPs and link to them which really isn’t best practice.

Don’t use a wild card redirect or a global redirect to 301 redirect everything to your home page unless you want to destroy all your rankings in on swoop.

Putting a formidable design team together is certainly not the easiest thing to do, but with the right guidance you can do it right and end up with a team that will deliver results you are pleased with. Read on to learn what you must consider as you put your dream team together.

1. Clarify the owner’s purpose

Think of what the owner of the project you are to work on wants and communicate that to the intended members of your team to make sure there is no confusion whatsoever.

2. Know how you work

Be aware of how you work as a leader and how your style affects the team. Communicate with them on what they like and what they don’t.

3. Don’t settle

Don’t let in a weak link into your team. Get them to improve if possible, and leave them if they don’t.

4. Create the right ambience from day one

From the start, create an atmosphere of respect, trust, and safety, with room for creativity and diverse viewpoints.

5. Make room for focus

Don’t let communication get extreme. Encourage alone time where team members can be alone and concentrate.

6. Look out for balance

Only take on new people if they provide a skill you don’t already have.

7. Have a plan

You must have a documented plan right from the start to guide your decisions.

8. Get to know your team

If you will be working on a creative project with people, you need to know who they are and what makes them tick.

9. No substitute for trust

Hard work and intelligence are important, but if you cannot trust a member of your design team, you are bound to have serious problems at some point.

10. Personal lives matter

A stressed person will have a hard time excelling much creatively so do all you can to make the after-work lives of your team members smooth too.

11. Coaching helps

Tap into the creativity of your team members by coaching for improved emotional intelligence, improved teamwork, and more.

12. Friendship is good

Don’t be sceptical about being friendly with your team as friendship has more benefits than you can imagine.

When you take the aforementioned seriously when putting your team together, you’ll be able to assemble a solid design team from the ground up. Good luck.

Once upon a time, in a time far away, your website would have been safe, but with the rise of hacking assisted tools and the increasing complexity of the web, there is more than enough reason to be proactive about the security of your website. If you have ever suffered a cyberattack, you would know it’s no fairy-tale. And if you don’t give too much thought to the security of your website, here’s why you should start:

Keep your visitors protected

Your visitors should be your most important consideration when you are thinking about securing your website. That is because you would be putting their data at risk if your website is not secure and that means everyone who purchases, subscribes, or even accesses your site is susceptible to some attack by a malicious party. If you use your website to process sensitive information such as credit card details, your website must be secure!

Prevent you from making financial losses

Imagine there is a breach and a hacker manages to steal from your customers or harm them in some other way, you will definitely lose those customers. Fewer customers mean less money, but you can also lose money in other ways. Say one of those customers decides to take legal action against you, what would you do if you are found guilty and slammed with heavy fines?

Protect your business relationships

If your customers abandon you for putting them at risk, your crucial business relationships will most certainly go too. If a hacker successfully installs malware on your site, your customers will have it passed on to them and then they would unknowingly pass it on to other businesses. To say the least, you can kiss your business goodbye should such an unfortunate event occur.

Protect your reputation

By now, it should be clear that a serious security problem will most certainly result in your name getting dragged in the dirt. It costs only a bit of money to take important security measures such as getting an SSL certificate compared to the price you’ll have to pay if you do have to face a security breach.

Protect your data

You should care about your protecting your data as much as you do about protecting your customers. The threat of identity theft is real so start today to secure website better.

Having a Portfolio site is a great idea for any visual business. Fashion stylists, photographers, makeup artists and videographers have great WordPress portfolio themes to compliment their website. These themes give you the chance of creating an aesthetically appealing site in an effort to promote your work to prospective clients. There is a large array of WordPress themes available on the Internet so we have put together a brief list of things you should consider when you’re about to choose the appropriate theme for your portfolio site.

With so many WordPress themes available, it makes choosing one a difficult choice some things you should consider before you make your pick are

Is it Free or Premium?

If you’re willing to pay for your theme, go for it. The the possibilities mean you are going to get more features and a lot more customizing control as opposed to a free theme. Not discouraging you from getting a free theme but if you have a more advanced site, then the paid theme provider will be able to monitor, update and offer you the support that you need if there is an issue with your theme along the way.

Does it allow a logo?

You should ensure that the theme you pick provides the option of allowing you to upload your own header image and replace the default image. It is not always necessary, but is a welcome advantage to add your logo so you can strengthen your brand. When checking for your theme, look out for “custom logo” or “custom header” on the vendors website.

Is the theme responsive?

If it responsive, then this means that your blog will be visible on any device or platform (Desktops, Smart phones, Tablets and IPads) Majority of the available themes are responsive, but it is still healthy to check before making your choice.

Is it compatible with blog plugins?

If you have an ecommerce site or blog, you will require ecommerce plugins to aid in the sale of your products. You need to ensure that the theme you pick is capable of working with the essential plugins that can boost the efficiency of your web page.

Support and Conversion

You could run into technical issues along the line when using your theme, this is where paid themes triumph over free themes. Ensure that your theme provider has a number or email you can reach them easily if you encounter any technical issues. While you have the support of your theme provider, find out how the theme can be tailored to assist in conversion.

Whether it’s free or paid you opt for, daring or minimalist. Ensure that your WordPress theme helps you achieve the goal of your portfolio for best results.